An MI6 worker who tried to sell secrets for £2 million was given a 12-month jail sentence today for his "act of betrayal".Notice the lenience of the court. Why? It's simple: the man is pathetic.
He offered to hand over sensitive computer files containing information about intelligence collection and MI6 staff lists to agents from the Netherlands, the Old Bailey heard. They at first thought it was a hoax but later tipped off their UK counterparts and Houghton was arrested after arranging a meeting at a London hotel in March.No market study, no pricing analysis, and the most ridiculous thing, of course - the choice of the client. What, there aren't enough real bad guys in the world ready to snap the files? And the Dutch succeeded to get him down to £900,000!
The judge said he did not know whether it was true, as Houghton claimed, that he was hearing voices that told him to do it but said he was a "strange young man".I guess if I had me some MI6 files I would be hearing voices too, pushing me to sell the files as soon as possible, and to the highest bidder.
But I think I know where I can put my mitts on the London phone book...
3 comments:
It's like the plot from the Coen Brothers' film "Burn after reading", whose morale is "intelligence is highly over rated".
Yes, the parallel is there.
Perhaps the most pathetic attempt at wrong doing since the time circa 1970 back in Ohio when a pair of bank robbers made their getaway in a purple volkswagon!
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